New Releases by David Brooks

★美國民眾票選，大學生必讀十大書單！ ★全球銷售超過60萬冊，授權20國語文翻譯 ★紐約時報非文學類、Publishers Weekly暢銷書金榜 ★幸福人生百科╳經典暢銷改版 腦袋聰明但情商不足，往往落得悲劇收場； 空有專業實力卻無人緣魅力，注定職場無法如意。 追求成功之前，先學會怎麼做人。 理性可以讓你傑出，社會能力才能給你幸福！ 這是一本人生小百科，你會看到過得精彩充實的兩個人，從誕生到學習、友誼到愛情、工作到終老。 他們擁有成功的職涯、美好的伴侶、朋友的敬重，原因不是他們比較聰明、比較漂亮或能力突出，而是因為他們擁有非認知的技能，諸如誠實、毅力、控制衝動、與他人合作。 他們懂得社會能力與街頭智慧，知道如何解讀別人的想法、判斷情勢。生而為社會性動物，除了專業技能與理性思考，溝通、識人、同情體諒、表達情感、發展道德文化，這些社會能力才是通往幸福的鎖鑰。 本書融合認知科學、行為科學、心理學、文學、經濟學、社會學的豐富知識，以小說般的節奏，領著讀者進入主角如你我一般的內心世界，看看情緒、直覺、遺傳傾向等潛意識領域如何影響他們做決定、如何孕育完整人格，以及造就出人頭地的能力。 大多數的人類行為並不是理性思考的產物，而是來自意識層次下的思考。我們不斷培養各種理性能力，常常忘了要發展精神能力與感情能力。因此在本書中，作者將各式關於潛意識心智的觀點融入一個人生的故事中。作者試著解釋，我們的心智運作與社會互動，會改變我們看待自己、養育孩子、發展職涯、處理關係和從事各種活動的觀點。 我們不斷學習怎樣考高分、怎樣發展職業技能、怎樣賺大錢，但真正能讓人成功的，其實是人際溝通、情感表達及控制衝動！ 掌握這些情感與社交的力量，愛情、生活、工作更滿意！ 【媒體推薦】 ◎這部生花妙筆、簡潔卻詳盡的好書介紹許多大腦發展、兩性關係，以及什麼能帶來快樂生活的相關文獻……讀者當可獲益良多。 ——《華盛頓時報》The Washington Times ◎這是我讀過最棒的人生經營指南……只要你細讀本書，我保證一定能讓你的生命變得更美好。它絕對該被列入所有商學碩士課程的必讀書單中……相信我，這是一本有著「大智慧」的書。 ——《堪薩斯市商業期刊》Kansas City Business Journal ◎讓生硬的科學讀起來像是赫曼．赫塞的小說。抽象的概念變得令人愉悅，甚至愛不釋手。 ——《華盛頓人》雜誌Washingtonian ◎大衛．布魯克斯是當代最重要的公共知識份子。他最廣為人知的，就是他對現代美國精英生活型態的戲謔剖析。本書則具有更遠大的企圖，關切現代人類的生活，探討情感依附、親子教養、學校教育、愛情、家庭、文化、成就、婚姻、政治、道德、衰老、死亡，以及更多的主題。布魯克斯是個犀利且風趣的作者。 ——《華盛頓郵報》The Washington Post ◎布魯克斯成功帶領讀者關注人類心靈及觸發人類行為的相關研究與豐富意涵上，他表現得相當好。 ——《經濟學人》雜誌The Economist ◎不可思議地引人入勝。 ——《石板》雜誌Slate ◎寫作企圖恢宏，極富娛樂性。 ——美國國家公共廣播電台NPR ◎一個非比尋常、高明的社會學、智識，以及諷諭的混合體。 ——《科克斯書評》星號書評Kirkus Reviews, starred review ◎精彩動人……布魯克斯匯整各式研究並以流行的方式將之表現出來的功力無庸置疑……本書旨在改變我們對自己如何過生活的瞭解，至少它能夠讓你更加注意大腦的驚人力量。 ——《費城詢問報》The Philadelphia Inquirer

A Chef''s Journey is a collection of the successes and pitfalls on the path to success by Chef David Brooks, who started from humble beginnings to climb the ladder of entrepreneurship as the founder of his own company, Dave''s Artisanal Cheesecakes. Along the way, you will discover that Chef Brooks experienced many setbacks, detours, and the ego-trampled sickness of defeat as he navigated the path to achieving his dream, establishing his own successful baking business. The journey is as good as the destination, and this journey is replete with anecdotes, images, and recipes to illustrate how he made it so far. Additionally, Chef Brooks has included many useful hints for those wishing to travel a similar path to success in food industry entrepreneurship-he''s made the mistakes, and you can benefit from them. Brooks will also provide the insight and the reward of working with his many mentors, without whom this journey would never have been possible. Enjoy the many recipes within, including the many ways to make cheesecake as well as numerous other food favorites.

Best-seller du New York Times u200b CRÉER DES LIENS PLUS PROFONDS AVEC CEUX QUI NOUS ENTOURENT. Dans un monde où les jugements hâtifs et les relations superficielles sont légion, beaucoup se sentent invisibles et incompris. Pourtant, au coeur de toute vie épanouie – qu''elle soit personnelle, familiale, professionnelle ou collective – se trouve une compétence fondamentale : savoir percevoir l''autre dans toute sa profondeur, et lui offrir le sentiment d''être vu, entendu, compris. Dans cet ouvrage passionnant, David Brooks, auteur à succès du New York Times, nous invite à redécouvrir l''art de la vraie connexion humaine. S''appuyant sur les apports de la psychologie, des neurosciences, du théâtre, de la philosophie et même de l''histoire, il nous guide vers une façon plus attentive, plus généreuse et plus lucide d''être en lien avec autrui. À travers de nombreux exemples et des réflexions pleines de sagesse, cet ouvrage nous montre comment poser les bonnes questions, écouter différemment et accorder une véritable valeur à l''histoire de chacun. Ce livre est une invitation à voir les autres en profondeur et, ce faisant, à découvrir une part plus grande de nous-mêmes.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A practical, heartfelt guide to the art of truly knowing another person and fostering deeper connections at home, at work, and throughout our lives—from the author of The Road to Character and The Second Mountain “More than a guide to better conversations, it’s a blueprint for a more connected and humane way of living. It’s a must-read for anyone looking to deepen their relationships and broaden their perspectives.”—Bill Gates, GatesNotes (Summer Reading Pick) As David Brooks observes, “There is one skill that lies at the heart of any healthy person, family, school, community organization, or society: the ability to see someone else deeply and make them feel seen—to accurately know another person, to let them feel valued, heard, and understood.” And yet all around are people who feel invisible, unseen, misunderstood. In How to Know a Person, Brooks sets out to help us do better, posing essential questions: If you want to know a person, what kind of attention should you cast on them? What kind of conversations should you have? What parts of a person’s story should you pay attention to? Driven by his trademark sense of curiosity and determination to grow as a person, Brooks draws from the fields of psychology and neuroscience and the worlds of theater, philosophy, history, and education to present a welcoming, hopeful, integrated approach to human connection. How to Know a Person helps readers become more understanding and considerate toward others, and to find the joy that comes from being seen. Along the way it offers a possible remedy for a society that is riven by fragmentation, hostility, and misperception. The act of seeing another person, Brooks argues, is profoundly creative: How can we look somebody in the eye and see something large in them and, in turn, see something larger in ourselves? How to Know a Person is for anyone searching for connection, and yearning to be understood.

Hardware acceleration in the form of customized datapath and control circuitry tuned to specific applications has gained popularity for its promise to utilize transistors more efficiently. Historically, the computer architecture community has focused on general-purpose processors, and extensive research infrastructure has been developed to support research efforts in this domain. Envisioning future computing systems with a diverse set of general-purpose cores and accelerators, computer architects must add accelerator-related research infrastructures to their toolboxes to explore future heterogeneous systems. This book serves as a primer for the field, as an overview of the vast literature on accelerator architectures and their design flows, and as a resource guidebook for researchers working in related areas.

The Necessity of Atheism is an essay on atheism Dr. D.M. Brooks. Plain speaking is necessary in any discussion of religion, for if the freethinker attacks the religious dogmas with hesitation, the orthodox...

''We need to organise politically to defend the weak, empower the many and prepare the ground for reversing the absurdities of capitalism.'' – Yanis Varoufakis ''Capitalism over the past twenty-five years has been an incredible moral good.'' – David Brooks The Munk debate on capitalism There is a growing belief that the capitalist system no longer works. Inequality is rampant. The environment is being destroyed for profits. In some western nations, life expectancy is even falling. Political power is wielded by wealthy elites and big business, not the people. But for proponents of capitalism, it is the engine of progress, not just making all of us materially better off, but helping to address everything from women’s rights to political freedoms. We seem to stand at a crossroads: do we need to fix the system as a matter of urgency, or would it be better to hold our nerve?

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Everybody tells you to live for a cause larger than yourself, but how exactly do you do it? The author of The Road to Character explores what it takes to lead a meaningful life in a self-centered world. “Deeply moving, frequently eloquent and extraordinarily incisive.”—The Washington Post Every so often, you meet people who radiate joy—who seem to know why they were put on this earth, who glow with a kind of inner light. Life, for these people, has often followed what we might think of as a two-mountain shape. They get out of school, they start a career, and they begin climbing the mountain they thought they were meant to climb. Their goals on this first mountain are the ones our culture endorses: to be a success, to make your mark, to experience personal happiness. But when they get to the top of that mountain, something happens. They look around and find the view . . . unsatisfying. They realize: This wasn’t my mountain after all. There’s another, bigger mountain out there that is actually my mountain. And so they embark on a new journey. On the second mountain, life moves from self-centered to other-centered. They want the things that are truly worth wanting, not the things other people tell them to want. They embrace a life of interdependence, not independence. They surrender to a life of commitment. In The Second Mountain, David Brooks explores the four commitments that define a life of meaning and purpose: to a spouse and family, to a vocation, to a philosophy or faith, and to a community. Our personal fulfillment depends on how well we choose and execute these commitments. Brooks looks at a range of people who have lived joyous, committed lives, and who have embraced the necessity and beauty of dependence. He gathers their wisdom on how to choose a partner, how to pick a vocation, how to live out a philosophy, and how we can begin to integrate our commitments into one overriding purpose. In short, this book is meant to help us all lead more meaningful lives. But it’s also a provocative social commentary. We live in a society, Brooks argues, that celebrates freedom, that tells us to be true to ourselves, at the expense of surrendering to a cause, rooting ourselves in a neighborhood, binding ourselves to others by social solidarity and love. We have taken individualism to the extreme—and in the process we have torn the social fabric in a thousand different ways. The path to repair is through making deeper commitments. In The Second Mountain, Brooks shows what can happen when we put commitment-making at the center of our lives.

''Een must-read in tijden van sociale distantie en nieuwe gemeenschapszin.'' - Trouw ''Een overtuigend pleidooi.'' **** NRC Handelsblad Sta jij op je eerste of tweede berg? Draait het leven om jou – of om anderen? Gaat het om succes – of om betekenis? We leven in een wereld die ons vertelt dat we vooral persoonlijk geluk moeten nastreven: carrière maken, succes hebben en mooie spullen verzamelen. Dit is wat David Brooks de zogenaamde ‘eerste berg’ noemt die we vaak allemaal bewandelen. Maar als we op die top zijn aangekomen, of eraf zijn gevallen door bijvoorbeeld een ontslag of een verlies, kunnen we tot de ontdekking komen dat dát ons niet daadwerkelijk gelukkig maakt. We gaan verlangen naar dingen die er echt toe doen. Dat is het moment waarop je de tweede berg beklimt. Op de tweede berg draait het niet meer om jezelf, maar om jouw relatie met anderen. Het gaat om een betekenisvol leven. David Brooks onderzoekt hoe je een waardevol leven kunt leiden in een egocentrische maatschappij. Wat betekent het om verder te kijken dan jezelf en je op een groter doel te richten? Om onafhankelijkheid los te laten en afhankelijkheid te omarmen? Hij richt zich hierbij op vier belangrijke pijlers die je helpen met het beklimmen van die tweede berg: een verbintenis aangaan met familie, met een roeping, met een gemeenschap of met een filosofie of geloof. De tweede berg is een inspirerend en persoonlijk boek dat je helpt te ontdekken hoe jij ook een rijk en voldaan leven kunt leiden. ''Een krachtig, indringend boek dat je niet meer loslaat.'' The Guardian David Brooks (1961) is auteur en al jaren een van de best gelezen columnisten van The New York Times. Hij heeft meerdere bestsellers geschreven, waaronder The Road to Character. Hij geeft les aan Yale University en is lid van de American Academy of Arts and Sciences. ‘Zijn columns staan steevast dagenlang op nummer een van bestgelezen stukken van de website van The New York Times. Hij is te horen en zien in vele populaire podcasts, radio- en tv-programma’s. Als de VS een ‘Denker des Vaderlands’ had, zou Brooks goede kans maken.’ NRC Handelsblad ''Zeer ontroerend en buitengewoon scherp. En hoopvol in de beste zin van het woord.'' The Washington Post ''Lessen die mogelijk je leven veranderen zijn te vinden in dit relevante boek dat je aanzet tot nadenken.'' Booklist ''Het beste boek van Brooks ooit. Krachtig. Zijn inspirerende boek is een zelfhulpgids om de gevangenis van jezelf te ontvluchten.'' The Observer ''Het is de gave van David Brooks om taai maar overtuigend sociaal onderzoek toegankelijk en zelfs verrassend te maken.'' The New York Times Book Review ''Brooks haalt een breed scala aan wetenschappers en denkers aan om een idee te weven dat groter is dan de som der delen.'' USA Today ''Brooks grootse prestatie zit in zijn vermogen om de ongeziene aspecten van privé-ervaringen te verheffen tot een krachtig en uitdagend gesprek over wat we allemaal met elkaar delen.'' San Francisco Chronicle ''Het hogere doel is volgens Brooks de “tweede berg”. De eerste berg draait om jezelf, de tweede om anderen. Het goede leven is niet gericht op pleziertjes, maar op diepe relaties met de mensen om je heen.'' **** NRC Handelsblad

Spesso capita di incontrare persone che irradiano gioia. Che sembrano aver trovato il loro posto nel mondo. Non che siano perfette, o che la vita per loro sia facile. Ma danno l’impressione di ricavare una profonda soddisfazione dal fare ciò che fanno. Guardandole, viene da pensare che la felicità non sia un sentimento, ma una visione del mondo, conquistata attraverso un percorso di vita che l’autore immagina con la forma di una doppia montagna. Per la prima parte dell’esistenza, hanno inseguito traguardi che corrispondono alle aspettative generali. Hanno ottenuto successo, potere, reputazione e appagamento personale. Ma giunte in vetta, si sono guardate intorno e hanno sentito dentro il tarlo dell’insoddisfazione: questa non è la mia meta finale, non è quello che desideravo veramente. Oppure, sopraggiunge un fallimento, una delusione, un lutto a buttarle giù da quella vetta che sembrava a tutta prima così seducente. E a quel punto, a valle, parte un sentiero che conduce a un secondo obiettivo, quello che vale davvero la pena raggiungere: spostare il fuoco da noi stessi agli altri. Consacrarci alla famiglia, scoprire una vocazione, ispirarsi a una filosofia o a una fede, dedicarci a una comunità: sono queste le quattro ispirazioni, i quattro impegni che ci danno la possibilità di realizzare noi stessi e scoprire la bellezza dell’interdipendenza tra le cose e le persone. Questa è la seconda montagna. David Brooks, col suo messaggio potente e provocatorio, mette in discussione i fondamenti della nostra società e della nostra cultura delle relazioni, così celebrativa della libertà individuale. Mostra a chi legge la magia che nasce dal porre gli altri al centro della propria vita: la felicità può tramutarsi in qualcosa di più puro, rotondo, gratificante. Può trasformarsi in gioia.

（原書名 品格：履歷表與追悼文的抉擇） 你的一生是為了履歷表的成就， 還是為了追悼文中的讚美而活？ 追求成功之際，你要如何回應內心抉擇，無愧人生？ 終其一生，我們都被要求同時具備兩種自我， 學會在這兩種對抗中自處、修練高尚品格，是每個人的生命必修課題。 ★比爾．蓋茲推薦人生必讀之書 ★《紐約時報》暢銷書排行榜第一名 ★《經濟學人》首選好書 ★Amazon年度百大暢銷書 ★TED演講超過2,686,000次點擊 ★《紐約時報》《今日美國報》《華盛頓郵報》《出版者週刊》 《英國時代雜誌》《衛報》《英國觀點雜誌》等主流媒體一致盛讚 成為更好的你，就從展開自我對抗的那一刻起。 我們多半都知道如何追求職場成就，卻不十分明瞭如何健全自己的人格。 而這個世界也多半鼓勵人發展較有企圖心、外顯在履歷表的那一面， 忽略了內心深處追求平靜、貢獻世界的渴望。 而人的一生，就在這兩種矛盾中互相拉扯； 如何在兩種相互對抗的張力中雍容自處，成為人生的必修課題。 《紐約時報》專欄作家大衛．布魯克斯以犀利新穎的論述和TED高人氣演講撼動全世界。 他在TED著名演說「你應該為哪個奮鬥——履歷表與追悼文？」 讓我們重新思索，那個渴望成功、亟欲征服世界的自我， 以及另一個以愛為先、以包容和寬恕為主軸的自我，該如何達到平衡？ 傾盡全力想征服世界的同時，如何回應內心深處良善的召喚？ 馬歇爾將軍戰功彪炳、舉世聞名，仍能保持虛懷若谷； 戰勝自我弱點的艾森豪總統、服膺召喚的作家喬治．艾略特， 以及走過蔭谷找回救贖、將生命全然投入服務眾人的社會運動家， 他們都以謙卑的內在力量找回更好的自己，並逐步影響了世界。 在這個以我為先、注重個人利益的時代，我們不該只為了享樂而活。 每個人都要努力戰勝自我，找到人生的真義，成為更好的人。 專文推薦 u200b人不只是追求享樂，還要追求使命。 人生有二本帳：私人小帳與社會大帳。 人不能只有私人帳上財富累積，社會帳上卻出現赤字。 這就是小我與大我的平衡。 ——高希均，遠見．天下文化事業群創辦人 沒有人是完美的，當面對自己時，我們無所遁形； 一旦面對社會責任時，我們也要時時提醒自己必須要「自視甚渺」。 ——嚴長壽，公益平台文化基金會董事長

The Necessity of Atheism presents an overview of religious scepticism in the 1930s, and a look at on-going debate and like scepticism even today. Despite obvious conflict of its central topic coupled with the thorough deconstruction of all major religious figures and practices through time, I see this work as mainly offering a range of viewpoints on religious beliefs, systems and practices and not necessarily seeking to dissuade the reader from religious thought in anyway...I think this work is only for the open-minded or the free-thinker and even an opportunity for thought by those only previously exposed to religion, but it should not be employed as a tool for conflict.Plain speaking is necessary in any discussion of religion, for if the freethinker attacks the religious dogmas with hesitation, the orthodox believer assumes that it is with regret that the freethinker would remove the crutch that supports the orthodox. And all religious beliefs are "crutches" hindering the free locomotive efforts of an advancing humanity. There are no problems related to human progress and happiness in this age which any theology can solve, and which the teachings of freethought cannot do better and without the aid of encumbrances.

Wir leben in einer Gesellschaft, die zielorientierte Egoisten hervorbringt. Sie belohnt Verhalten, das zum Erfolg führt, und befördert Kalkül und Eigennutz: eine regelrechte Ich-an-erster-Stelle-Kultur, die uns wettbewerbsfähig machen soll. Aber macht sie uns auch zu wertvollen Persönlichkeiten? Nein, sagt David Brooks. Vielmehr müssen wir wieder lernen, die Welt nicht zu erobern, sondern uns ihr zu verpflichten. Der amerikanische Bestseller-Autor folgt damit der Spur einer großen moralischen Tradition und beweist, dass wir alle nur gewinnen können, wenn wir eine einfache Wahrheit verinnerlichen: Willst du dich selbst verwirklichen, musst du dich auch selbst vergessen können. Eine packende Lektüre für alle, die der oberflächlichen Selfie-Kultur überdrüssig sind.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • David Brooks challenges us to rebalance the scales between the focus on external success—“résumé virtues”—and our core principles. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE ECONOMIST With the wisdom, humor, curiosity, and sharp insights that have brought millions of readers to his New York Times column and his previous bestsellers, David Brooks has consistently illuminated our daily lives in surprising and original ways. In The Social Animal, he explored the neuroscience of human connection and how we can flourish together. Now, in The Road to Character, he focuses on the deeper values that should inform our lives. Looking to some of the world’s greatest thinkers and inspiring leaders, Brooks explores how, through internal struggle and a sense of their own limitations, they have built a strong inner character. Labor activist Frances Perkins understood the need to suppress parts of herself so that she could be an instrument in a larger cause. Dwight Eisenhower organized his life not around impulsive self-expression but considered self-restraint. Dorothy Day, a devout Catholic convert and champion of the poor, learned as a young woman the vocabulary of simplicity and surrender. Civil rights pioneers A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin learned reticence and the logic of self-discipline, the need to distrust oneself even while waging a noble crusade. Blending psychology, politics, spirituality, and confessional, The Road to Character provides an opportunity for us to rethink our priorities, and strive to build rich inner lives marked by humility and moral depth. “Joy,” David Brooks writes, “is a byproduct experienced by people who are aiming for something else. But it comes.” Praise for The Road to Character “A hyper-readable, lucid, often richly detailed human story.”—The New York Times Book Review “This profound and eloquent book is written with moral urgency and philosophical elegance.”—Andrew Solomon, author of Far from the Tree and The Noonday Demon “A powerful, haunting book that works its way beneath your skin.”—The Guardian “Original and eye-opening . . . Brooks is a normative version of Malcolm Gladwell, culling from a wide array of scientists and thinkers to weave an idea bigger than the sum of its parts.”—USA Today

David Brooks is an anthropologist who has worked with the Ngaanyatjarra people, including the people at Wanarn, for over twenty-five years. He researched and wrote the connection reports through which they gained native title rights over the huge tract of the Australian Western Desert that is their home, and has worked with them on matters from negotiating with mining companies to facing the challenges of making education meaningful to the youth. He has written extensively on the rich desert Tjukurrpa and art, and on the layers of social and cultural interconnectedness of the people. Brooks is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia. Darren Jorgensen lectures in art history in the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts at the University of Western Australia. He has written on Australian art, especially from the Kimberley and the Ngaanyatjarra Lands, for academic journals, art magazines and newspapers. He also writes on music and science fiction, enjoys surfing badly and drinking whisky well, and lives with his partner and two children in Perth.

Nos últimos trinta anos aprendemos mais sobre o cérebro humano do que nos últimos três mil — houve uma revolução científica. A mente inconsciente, descobriu-se, é a maior parte da mente — o terreno das emoções, das intuições, dos desejos, das predisposições genéticas, dos traços de personalidade e das normas sociais, onde o caráter se forma e se tomam as decisões mais importantes da vida. Em O animal social: a história de como o sucesso acontece, David Brooks entrelaça, em uma narrativa reveladora, uma vasta coleção de novas pesquisas com as vidas de dois personagens ficcionais, Harold e Erica, acompanhando-os da infância à velhice. Ao fazer isso, revela uma nova e fundamental compreensão da natureza humana. Ele traça uma inovadora definição do sucesso ressaltando o que os economistas chamam de habilidades não cognitivas — aquelas qualidades ocultas que não podem ser facilmente contadas ou medidas, mas que levam, de fato, a uma vida de felicidade e realização. Uma aventura intelectual emocionante e cheia de nuances, a obra é um livro essencial para os nossos tempos — e que mudará a maneira como nos vemos no mundo.

Toute vie est un roman - mais quels sont les ressorts intimes de l''intrigue ? Selon David Brooks, trente ans de recherches scientifiques éclairent la question d''un jour nouveau : nous ne sommes ni des êtres rationnels, ni les jouets d''un inconscient de type freudien. Nous sommes avant tout des animaux sociaux, et cette réalité, inscrite au plus profond de nos êtres, dans nos cerveaux, explique notre façon d''évoluer dans l''existence. La science a enfin ouvert la boîte noire de notre esprit. Ses passionnantes découvertes, jusqu''ici confinées dans le cadre des publications savantes, bouleversent le champ de notre compréhension. Vulgarisateur de talent, David Brooks a su en tirer la trame d''une fiction : il nous livre, clés à l''appui, le récit de la vie de deux personnages, Erica et Harold, aussi différents qu''on peut l''être, qui finiront pourtant par bâtir ensemble leur vie et leur réussite. En décryptant leurs émotions, leurs intuitions, leurs désirs enfouis, ces lieux intimes où se forgent le caractère et la destinée, il brosse pour nous l''étonnant tableau de notre propre humanité.

N.°1 del New York Times. Una aventura intelectual conmovedora, un relato de logros y una defensa del progreso. Ésta es la historia de cómo se produce el éxito. Se cuenta a través de la vida de una pareja, Harold y Erica: cómo crecen, avanzan, retroceden, fracasan y triunfan. A partir de la gran cantidad de información que aporta sobre estos dos personajes, vívidamente descritos, Brooks ilustra un nuevo conocimiento fundamental de la naturaleza humana. Se ha producido una revolución científica, hemos aprendido más del cerebro humano en los últimos treinta años que en los trescientos anteriores. Resulta que la mente inconsciente es «la mayor parte» de la mente. Es el terreno de las emociones, las intuiciones, las tendencias, los deseos, las predisposiciones genéticas, los rasgos de la personalidad y las normas sociales, allí donde se forma el carácter y se toman las decisiones más importantes de la vida. Reseñas: «Provocador y fascinante... Brooks demuestra que lo que está más allá de nuestro control consciente es inmenso.» Philadelphia Enquirer « El animal social es autorizado, impresionantemente erudito y de gran alcance.» Newsweek

A woman and an older man meet by accident at a restaurant and find themselves dining together, during the course of which intimate stories, confessions, and questions arise.

Originally published as: Bobos in Paradise: the new upper class and how they got there, 2000; and: On Paradise Drive: how we live now (and always have) in the future tense, 2004.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER With unequaled insight and brio, New York Times columnist David Brooks has long explored and explained the way we live. Now Brooks turns to the building blocks of human flourishing in a multilayered, profoundly illuminating work grounded in everyday life. This is the story of how success happens, told through the lives of one composite American couple, Harold and Erica. Drawing on a wealth of current research from numerous disciplines, Brooks takes Harold and Erica from infancy to old age, illustrating a fundamental new understanding of human nature along the way: The unconscious mind, it turns out, is not a dark, vestigial place, but a creative one, where most of the brain’s work gets done. This is the realm where character is formed and where our most important life decisions are made—the natural habitat of The Social Animal. Brooks reveals the deeply social aspect of our minds and exposes the bias in modern culture that overemphasizes rationalism, individualism, and IQ. He demolishes conventional definitions of success and looks toward a culture based on trust and humility. The Social Animal is a moving intellectual adventure, a story of achievement and a defense of progress. It is an essential book for our time—one that will have broad social impact and will change the way we see ourselves and the world.

In his bestselling work of “comic sociology,” David Brooks coins a new word, Bobo, to describe today’s upper class—those who have wed the bourgeois world of capitalist enterprise to the hippie values of the bohemian counterculture. Their hybrid lifestyle is the atmosphere we breathe, and in this witty and serious look at the cultural consequences of the information age, Brooks has defined a new generation. Do you believe that spending $15,000 on a media center is vulgar, but that spending $15,000 on a slate shower stall is a sign that you are at one with the Zenlike rhythms of nature? Do you work for one of those visionary software companies where people come to work wearing hiking boots and glacier glasses, as if a wall of ice were about to come sliding through the parking lot? If so, you might be a Bobo.

During World War 1 a friendship is forged on the battlefields of France between Axel and Edward, two young Englishmen. There, inspired by barrage balloons, they develop a mutual fascination that will change the course of their lives. After the war, as Axel''s passion for flight and freedom consume him, he sets off to balloon across the highlands of New Albion, a largely unexplored island north of Australia. When he fails to return, Edward travels to the island to solve the mystery of his friend''s disappearance and retrace his final journey. What he finds there will haunt him for the rest of his life. The Umbrella Club is a darkly compelling adventure into the depths of the human soul and to the frontiers of colonial exploration. In the aftermath of war, when there is nothing left to fear, sometimes the only possibility for recovery is flight. Praise for David Brooks'' The Fern Tattoo: '' . . . a sense of deliberation and imaginative power imbues his work. Take time for The Fern Tattoo.'' Age '' . . . a book of extraordinary sensuousness and beauty.'' Canberra Times

The author of the acclaimed bestseller Bobos in Paradise, which hilariously described the upscale American culture, takes a witty look at how being American shapes us, and how America''s suburban civilization will shape the world''s future. Take a look at Americans in their natural habitat. You see suburban guys at Home Depot doing that special manly, waddling walk that American men do in the presence of large amounts of lumber; super-efficient ubermoms who chair school auctions, organize the PTA, and weigh less than their children; workaholic corporate types boarding airplanes while talking on their cell phones in a sort of panic because they know that when the door closes they have to turn their precious phone off and it will be like somebody stepped on their trachea. Looking at all this, you might come to the conclusion that we Americans are not the most profound people on earth. Indeed, there are millions around the world who regard us as the great bimbos of the globe: hardworking and fun, but also materialistic and spiritually shallow. They''ve got a point. As you drive through the sprawling suburbs or eat in the suburban chain restaurants (which if they merged would be called Chili''s Olive Garden Hard Rock Outback Cantina), questions do occur. Are we really as shallow as we look? Is there anything that unites us across the divides of politics, race, class, and geography? What does it mean to be American? Well, mentality matters, and sometimes mentality is all that matters. As diverse as we are, as complacent as we sometimes seem, Americans are united by a common mentality, which we have inherited from our ancestors and pass on, sometimes unreflectingly, to our kids. We are united by future-mindedness. We see the present from the vantage point of the future. We are tantalized, at every second of every day, by the awareness of grand possibilities ahead of us, by the bounty we can realize just over the next ridge. This mentality leads us to work feverishly hard, move more than any other people on earth, switch jobs, switch religions. It makes us anxious and optimistic, manic and discombobulating. Even in the superficiality of modern suburban life, there is some deeper impulse still throbbing in the heart of average Americans. That impulse is the subject of this book.